State

Page Six THE STATE October 19, 1935 GOVERNORS OF NORTH CAROLINA - No. 35— JAMES TURNER - - By W. J. Sadler - TO I bo late Governor Charles B. Ayeook. who -ervcd as Chief Executive of this state short¬ ly after the liegiiuiing of the present century, has been given the lion's share ••! the credit for making North Carolina education con¬ scious, hut Governor James Turner deserves quite a hit of recognition in that direc¬ tion. Turner assumed the gubernatorial office on December C, 1802, serving three one-year terms and retiring on De¬ cember 10, 1805. lie was named to take the place of Colonel John B. Ashe, elected by tile legislature to succeed • Jov- ernor Benjamin Williams, hut who died before having the opportunity to take over his new duties. Legislative Aid Sought Governor Turner took up the fight for edueation where hi- predecessor, Wil¬ liams, had left off. Williams, during the three years he had served as Gov¬ ernor. fought almost incessantly to have the General Assembly provide proper educational facilities for the children of the state. In his last message to the legislature. Williams called attention to “the im¬ portance of providing thorough, ade¬ quate and suitable means for a general diffusion of learning throughout the state . . . that our posterity will be en¬ abled at all time- and on all occasions duly to appreciate and properly tindcr- -tand and defend their natural, civil and political rights; in fine, that with enlightened minds, and the consequent love of freedom, they will never cease to he free." Governor Janies Turner puf up a valiant figlit for the cause of edu¬ cation in >orth Carolina during the lime he held offiee shortly after the start of the eighteenth century, hut he didn't have very much luck. I.aek of funds is helieved to have heen the chief handicap, lie also uas one of our earliest good roads advocates. Pleas Williams* ato had litt Had Little Effect plea for the youth of the lo effect on members of the owever, and nothing of a nature was done iinuiediate- uso of education. Turner, message to the legislative body of the state following his inaugu¬ ration. tried to pick up where Williams had left off. ly fo in h “Too much attention cannot 1ю paid to the education of youth,” he told the legislators, “by promoting the establish¬ ment of schools in every part of the state.” Captain Samuel Ashe of Raleigh, re¬ lates in his history of the state, the futile efforts that were made during Turner’s service as Governor to establish a comprehensive system of education for North Carolina. During Turner’s first term, several bills were introduced in an effort to accomplish that purpose, hut all of them failed. No definite and certain method of raising funds for the -upport of the schools apparently was the principal deterrent. One of the measures would have established acade¬ mies in each district, while another would have had them constructed in every county of the state. Louisiana Purchase Made It was during the first year of Turner’s administration that the Great Louisiana Purchase was made by the United States government from France in This added millions of acres to the area of the young republic. The purchase resulted in so great n migra¬ tion of citizens of North Carolina and other states to the new- territory that it was the occasion for considerable alarm. Then, ns now, cotton played a big part in the economic life of this and other Southern states. And the staple brought a good price in those days, ranging from thirty to forty cents a pound. The growing of cotton almost resulted in the freeing of slaves in North Carolina almost sixty years liefnre President Abraham Lincoln’s famous Emnneipn- tion Proclamation. The slaves were used in large numbers in the pro¬ duction of cotton, and the growth of the industry brought about an increase in the slave trade, which was deprecated by somu of the leading citi.-ens of the period. “This opening of the slave trade." says Captain Ashe’s history, “was severely repro¬ bated in North Carolina. When the Assembly met in November. 1804, Sena¬ tor William P. Little of Warren, intro¬ duced a resolution instructing the North Carolina senators and representative- in Congress to propose an amendment lo the constitution prohibiting the slave trade. General Benjamin Smith from the committee to whom the resolution w*ns referred reported it back favorably, and it was adopted : and it was ordered to bo communicated t<> the executive of every state.” Wanted Good Roads Governor Turner also gave much at¬ tention to the question of better meth¬ ods of transportation throughout the state. Hoads were few and almost con¬ stantly in a bad state of repair. He trie-1 to gel hills through the legislature providing for the construction of roads, especially where they were needed tin- most. hut again a lack of funds seems to have nullified his efforts. First Mansion Built The first Governor's “Mansion" was erected w-hilc Turner was Chief Execu¬ tive of the state. It was located on the southwest corner of Fayetteville and Hargett Streets. Turner retired from the Governor¬ ship in December, 1S05, to assume a seat in the United States Senate, to which he had l*cen elected. He was succeeded as Governor by Nathaniel Alexander.